Who's Who

Wendy Lement Wendy Lement co-founded Theatre Espresso in 1992. She is also a Professor of Theatre and Chair of the Theatre Department at Regis College in Weston, MA, where she has directed thirty productions, including: Dancing at Lughnasa, Importance of Being Earnest, The Good Woman of Setzuan, Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet), and Steel Magnolias, which won a Moss Hart Award. Her production of The House of Bernarda Alba won the 2000 New England Region's American College Theatre Festival, sponsored by the Kennedy Center. She is co-author of And Justice for Some: Exploring American Justice through Drama and Theatre, published by Heinemann Press (2005). Wendy's children's book, Keri Tarr: Cat Detective, was published by Breakaway Books (2004). Her plays include: Woman with the Red Kerchief, Salem's Daughters, King George III vs. Ruth Blay, Voicings: The Story of the Rosenberg Case, Dolphins: The Myth of Persephone, The Legend of the Christmas Rose, and Keri Tarr: Cat Detective (based on her children's book), which won the American Alliance for Theatre and Education's 2002 Unpublished Playreading Project. Wendy holds a Ph.D. in Educational Theatre from New York University.

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Derek Stone Nelson Derek has been a member of Theatre Espresso for 10 years and Managing Director for the last three. In addition to acting in all the company's current plays, he has also helped research and write three of Theatre Espresso's more recent dramas: Clear and Present Danger: The Palmer Raids, Uprising on King Street: The Boston Massacre, and Nine Who Dared: Crisis in Little Rock. He has appeared on stage in many Boston area theatres, including North Shore Music Theatre, New Rep, Stoneham Theatre (where you can see him in How Many Miles to Basra? later this fall), The Publick Theatre, Merrimack Rep, Sugan Theatre, Huntington Theatre Co. and Wellesley Summer Theatre, with whom he received an IRNE Award for Best Actor for his role in Much Ado About Nothing. Derek is a graduate of Trinity Rep Conservatory and holds a BA in English from Amherst College.

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Kortney Adams Kortney Adams is a native of St. Louis, MO, but is now happy to consider herself a Bostonian. Before becoming an actor, Kortney was a practicing environmental engineer, and holds BS and MS degrees from Washington University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Since that time, she's performed with many Boston-area theatre companies, including the Publick Theatre, Boston Playwrights' Theatre, Company One, Rough Tumble, and Wellesley Summer Theatre, with whom she received an IRNE Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in After Mrs. Rochester. Her educational theatre credits include New England and national tours with the Wheelock Family Theatre,Historical Perspectives for Children, Deana's Fund, and City Stage.

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Shelley Bolman is an actor/educator who received his Master’s in Theatre Education from Emerson College. Gloucester Stage Company: Woman in Black (The Actor), Billy Bishop Goes to War (Billy Bishop), Wind in the Willows (Mole); Commonwealth Shakespeare Company: A Midsummer Night's Dream (Snug); Charles Playhouse: Shear Madness (Sgt. Mike Thomas); Wheelock Family Theatre: Saint Joan (Charles, the Dauphin), Inherit the Wind (Bertram Cates), Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse (Chester), Holes (Mr. Pendanski), Snow White (The Prince), Pippi Longstocking (Tommy Settergren), Witch of Blackbird Pond (Nat Eaton); Stoneham Theatre: And Then There Were None (Dr. Edward Armstrong), A Christmas Story (Ralph), A Christmas Carol (Young Ebenezer); Boston Theatre Works: 2007 Elliot Norton Award Winning play A Midsummer Night's Dream (Quince, Lysander, Cobweb), Antony and Cleopatra (Maecenas, Messenger); Wellesley Summer Theatre: Playboy of the Western World (Jimmy Farrell), An Ideal Husband (Sir Robert Chiltern); Village Theatre Project: Better Off Dead (David Gellman), Almost Maine (Man 1), Spinning Into Butter (Mr. Meyers); The Theatre Cooperative: Manifest (Dada); New Repertory Theatre: Tartuffe (Louis XIV, Police Officer). In 2010 look for Shelley in Opus (Alan) at New Repertory Theatre and A Midsummer Night's Dream (Lysander) with Actors’ Shakespeare Project.

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Danny Bolton Dan Bolton is thrilled to be a new company member of Theatre Espresso. He has had the good fortune to work at a number of theatres in the Boston area, including Wellesley Summer Theatre, Wheelock Family Theatre, Lyric Stage Company of Boston, Jewish Theatre of New England, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Speakeasy Stage Company, Reagle Players and Foothills Theatre Company. The veteran of three national tours, Dan is a graduate of Boston College, a theatre educator for a variety of different programs throughout the Boston area and continues to keep busy in television, video and commercial work for a number of national corporate and retail clients.

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Calvin Braxton Calvin Braxton, a former member of Theatre Espresso, returns after having been away touring in the internationally acclaimed Cirque du Soleil for the past few years, performing in such cities as Montreal, Mexico City, London, Amsterdam, Tokyo and Sydney to name a few. Based in the Boston area, Calvin has appeared in several Boston area productions: In the Blood with Zeitgeist Stage Company, The Prince and Pauper at the Wheelock Family Theatre, Inspecting Carol at the Lyric Stage Company of Boston and has understudied at the Huntington Theatre. Regional Credits include roles in Hamlet with New Art Theatre (New Hampshire), To Kill a Mockingbird at the Palace Theatre, (Manchester, NH) and A Raisin in the Sun in the AmeriCulture Arts Festival (Fitchburg, MA). Trained primarily in opera at the University of Michigan, he has sung the role of Oberon in the opera version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Aspen Music Festival and at the Britten-Pears Festival in Aldeburgh, UK. He also sang regularly with the now defunct Boston Bach Ensemble..

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Jackie Davis is a member of Theatre Espresso and an Affiliate Artist of the Providence Black Repertory Theatre Company.  She recently became co-artistic Director of New Urban Theatre Laboratory....lovingly referred to as the NUTLab.  Watch for great NUT events.  Directorial credits include: Black Arts Drama Showcase (in Boston and New Jersey) produced by Roxbury Crossroads Theatre featuring works by Ed Bullins, Sonia Sanchez, Marvin X and Amiri Baraka, "BIRTH" for Bold On Labor Day, “An American Kaleidoscope” for The Streetfeet Women, and "The Eight Reindeer Monologues." She’s also recently directed in Company One’s SLAM Boston and has participated as both an actor and director for Boston Playwrights Theatre's annual Boston Theatre Marathon.  She's directed staged readings of “Hurry Tomorrow” by Frank Shefton, "The Trial of One Short-Sighted Black Woman vs. Mammy Louise and Safreeta Mae" for Roxbury Crossroads Theatre at the Calderwood Pavilion,  “Judge Thom Strikes Back” by renowned playwright Ed Bullins and Cell Phone Blues by Robert Johnson as part of the University of Massachusetts’ Black History Month Playreading series.  Television and Web appearances include Comcast, Visa, Krispy Kreme; films include Shuttle, Pink Panther, and The Company Men. Ms. Davis is the Co-Artistic Director of New Urban Theater Laboratory and has taken on the duties of Associate Director of Roxbury Crossroads Theater in Boston. She currently resides in Boston, Massachusetts, and has traveled throughout the east coast for theater, modeling and dance.
 

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Matthew Kossack Matthew has been acting, directing and choreographing throughout the Boston area since graduating from Boston College in 2004; BA in English, concentration in Theatre Arts.  Recent acting credits include: Joseph…Dreamcoat (Reagle Players), Urinetown (Lyric Stage), Swing! (Acting Up), A Chorus Line (Encore Stage Company), Tommy (Core Stage Company) and Still Life with Iris (Regis Theatre Company).  He has directed and choreographed for The Longwood Players, Open Door Theater, Newton Country Players, TheatreZone and The Performing Arts Connection and is the Artistic Director of Artbarn Community Theater, a youth theatre in Brookline.

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   Keith Mascoll is an Actor/Educator who makes his humble return to Theatre Espresso since being the original Anthony Burns in 1999. Keith is an Affiliated Artist with the Providence Repertory Company, and has a B.A in Theatre from UMass Boston. His credits include The Bluest Eye, The Colored Museum, (Providence Black Rep), The Dutchman (Theater Co-op), Hamartia Blues (Theater Offensive), Six Rounds Six Lessons, Break it down (Company One). Other favorite roles include King Duncan in Macbeth with New Rep On Tour, and Xavier in The Huntington Theatre Company’s Stages: Hinges Keep a City. He was nominated for two IRNE awards and won the Best Actor Award in L.A. for John Adejoke’s powerful one man play, Love Jones, at the Strawberry One Act Play Festival. Keith also received a New York Critics choice award for The Test by Paula Caplan at the Samuel L French Festival in NYC. Keith has been on HGTV’s Freestyle and in numerous commercials and film projects. Keith is one of the leading designers of innovative educational programming for middle age students in the nation. He played a significant role in the rise of Citizen Schools success in transforming the learning day and improving the educational trajectories of young people across the country.

 

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Susan Lombardi-Verticelli Susan joined Theatre Espresso in 2007. When not performing with Theatre Espresso, Susan is a working actor who has been seen in many local productions and on television. Susan also enjoys being behind the scenes as a producer for The Travel Channel, The History Channel, TLC and other networks. Susan combines her experience and education (BS in Acting and Communication Studies from Emerson College and MA in Communication Studies from Suffolk University) by helping individuals and organizations with their communication and presentation needs. Having worked in the Boston Public Schools for five years, the Theatre Espresso mission is very close to Susan's heart.

 

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Cliff Odle Cliff is a long time Theatre Espresso member who has appeared in all of the current Theatre Espresso shows at one point or another. Currently he is performing regularly in Uprising on King Street and The Trial of Anthony Burns. He has also appeared on stage in several productions in New York, Boston and Southern California. Some of his roles have included Pontius Pilate in The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Mister in King Hedley II, Troy Maxon in Fences, and Lucien P. Smith in The Boys Next Door. He has worked with a variety of stage companies such as The Huntington Theatre, Company One, Peabody Playhouse and The Second Stage Theatre Company. He has also performed classical roles such as Tartuffe and Richard III. He is currently a playwriting graduate student at Boston University.

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Adam SandersAdam Sanders Adam is new to Theatre Espresso and Boston theater in general.  He received his BA in English from UMass Amherst.  In Amherst he founded the Amherst Renaissance Company as producer/director and actor.  He directed with Naked Theater, Chester Miniature Theater and the UMass Theater Department.  He also directed for and helped found the UMass Shakespeare Festival.  In Boston Adam is working towards his Masters in Theater and Community at Emerson College.  Boston credits include “Leontes/Shepherd” in The Winter’s Tale and “Malvolio” in Twelfth Night for Bad Habit Productions.  He directed Speed the Plow for the same company.

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Bernice Liuson Sim Her mother would say that she has been performing since she was a child – subjecting neighbors and siblings to her dramatic mastermind. Theater credits include Aphrodite in Desire, Callie in Stop Kiss, The Vagina Monologues, Kokoro, The Further Adventures of Sacagawea, and, during the day, is honored to be part of two touring educational theater groups: Theatre Espresso (since 2002) and Stages of Discovery (since 2005.) Favorite on-screen roles include playing a hungry genie, an ass-kicking ninja, a six-armed golden goddess, a geisha, a tai-chi woman, a French speaking Tae Kwon Do student, a naked Princeton University student, and a mob moll in God of Vampires. She co-starred in two of Boston's best of the 48 Hour Film Project shorts, My Ulcer... It's Back! (2004), and Paisanics (2005). Bernice is an unapologetic exhibitionist, has great love for the stage, the camera, and perfecting the craft (thanks to all who have helped feed her acting addiction). She is the founder of a local online acting community called: Be Seen! Boston's Acting Scene. Most recently she is producing a documentary called Stark Review: The Heart Of Boston Theater (www.reddragonflyfilms.com). You can also see a bunch of her films on YouTube.

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Lewis Wheeler Lewis joined Theatre Espresso in 2008. He has worked at various theatres in the Boston area – recent productions include Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater (WHAT), where he has performed for the past 3 seasons, No Exit at Payomet in Truro, Brecht’s The Life of Galileo at Underground Railway/Central Square Theater, Playboy of the Western World at Wellesley Summer Theatre. Other credits include Pinter’s No Man’s Land (IRNE nominee, Best Supporting Actor) (American Repertory Theatre); Doubt (Gloucester Stage); The Importance of Being Earnest, A Number, The Underpants, The Glass Menagerie (Lyric Stage); Arcadia (IRNE nominee, Best Actor), Comedy of Errors, Troilus and Cressida (Publick Theatre); Silence, Cyrano (New Rep); Macbeth, Taming of the Shrew (Commonwealth Shakespeare Co.); Butley (Huntington Theatre); Julius Caesar, title roles in Hamlet and Macbeth (Shakespeare Now); The Mousetrap (Stoneham); The Weir (TCAN); A Perfect Ganesh (Vineyard Playhouse). Film and television credits include The Company Men (with Chris Cooper and Tommy Lee Jones), Don McKay, Underdog, Pink Panther 2, Laddie in Louisa May Alcott (PBS), Brotherhood (Showtime). Lewis performs with several interactive training programs at Boston Children’s Hospital and IPEP (Institute for Professionalism and Ethical Practice), helping medical professionals with communication skills in particularly difficult medical situations. Lewis also produced the documentary LEADING TO WAR (www.LeadingToWar.com), about the build-up to the Iraq War. Lewis studied theatre and film studies at Cornell University and received his MFA from the American Film Institute (AFI).

 

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Alan R. White Alan has played the Haberdasher in The Taming of The Shrew with The Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Steven in Or Less, Poel in The Wizard of Elderwood, Aaron in The Three Graces, The Dean in The Old One-Two at The Theater at Hollywood and Vine, and Jason in Sin with South City Theater Ensemble. Alan has worked with many New England theater companies including City Stage Company, The Children's Museum of Boston, The New England Shakespeare Festival, Pastimes, and The Freedom Trail Foundation. Alan's work in TV video and voice over includes portraying everything from Science Teachers to Ninja.

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